


Pride

by AxieJade



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Bisexual Jake Peralta, Canon Compliant, Coming Out, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, LGBTQ Themes, Light Angst, Multi, Past Jake Peralta/Original Male Character, Peraltiago, Peraltiago Feels, Roger Peralta's A+ Parenting, pride month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-05 18:53:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19046353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AxieJade/pseuds/AxieJade
Summary: Jake Peralta is bi. He's known since he was sixteen. He's kept this a secret for years, but with his wedding with Amy just around the corner, Jake decides that maybe it shouldn't be a secret anymore.orIn which Jake Peralta decides that he wants to come out to his entire squad before he gets married.





	Pride

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Pride Month!
> 
> You might notice that my writing style changes a bit throughout this, as I actually started writing it during Pride Month last year, but had to abandon it for nearly a year due to other commitments. This is also the first thing I've written in nearly a year, so it probably isn't the quality I would normally post.
> 
> Anyway, I really hope you enjoy!

**Gina**

He was seventeen and sitting on a ridiculously comfortable desk chair in Gina’s bedroom.

Gina was across from him, propped up on her elbow and sprawled on her bed, prattling on about how ‘ _Dark-And-Brooding-Vinnie-In-Biology is definitely going to ask her out within the next week, but she couldn’t do that to Two-Week-Best-Friend-Forever-Jessica because she had liked Vinnie since they were fourteen’_.

Jake stared off, not paying attention to what Gina was saying, but instead letting his eyes glaze over and linger on one of the many posters of random male models with ridiculously chiselled features that she had ripped out of fashion magazines. His thoughts were elsewhere.

He didn’t notice Gina was trying to get his attention until Gina had climbed off the bed and was angrily snapping her fingers in his face.

“Jake? Jake! Earth to Jake.”

“Huh?” Jake blinked at her. “Yes… I completely agree with you.”

Gina rolled her eyes and sat back down on her bed. “Jake, come on, man, I need to dish! Jessica has a lake house! A lake house! I’ve been sucking up to her all year just to get invited in the summer. I know you don’t really care about these things. I mean, you’re lucky you cut off your ponytail, but I need your advice!”

“Yeah, I know sorry. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

Gina looked at him for a moment, a rare look of softness going over her face. He was pale and his hands were shaking. “Is your dad back?”

“What?” Jake shot her a look. “No. He’s in Seattle… And there’s nothing wrong with my dad.”

“Uh huh.”

“Yuh huh.”

Gina shook her head at him and leant back. “Then what is it?”

Jake took a deep breath and shut his eyes. His heart pounded in his “I have something I need to tell you.”

Gina sat back up, looking him over. She didn’t know what to expect. “Yeah?”

“I’m…” He took a deep breath. “I’m bisexual.”

He looked down at his feet so that he didn’t have to see her reaction. He braced himself, holding his breath and expecting the worst. Expecting for her to call him a fag, or tell him to get out.

But instead he heard a laugh.

He looked up and saw Gina smiling at him.

“What?” He asked, confused. Of all the possible outcomes he had thought of, laughter was not one of them.

“Me too.”

Jake released his breath, and stared at her for a moment, shocked. “Really?”

Gina nodded. “Yeah… I mean, I don’t really like to put a label on myself, but if I did, bi would be the one I’d use.”

They smiled at each other for a moment, before Gina spoke. “Have you told your parents?”

Jake’s smile fell slightly. “My dad’s been busy with work for the last couple months so I haven’t had the chance to tell him.”

“And your mum?”

“I told her like a week ago.”

“And?”

“I don’t know.” Jake stood up, hands on his hips, looking back up at the posters on Gina’s wall. “She asked me what that meant and I told her that it meant that I didn’t like just girls.”

“But?”

Jake looked back and Gina and sighed. “She said it was fine, but she just sought of dismissed it. She was acting like it was a phase. Like it was something I was going to get out of my system and get over, but it’s not. It’s who I am. And… I don’t know. It just hurt for her not to understand that.” He slumped back into his chair. “I just wish she could get it.”

“Dude, she will. Your mum’s cool like that.”

Jake smiled at her. “How did your mum take it?”

“Ugh.” Gina rolled her eyes and leant back on her elbow. “She tried to set me up with this _‘other lesbian’_ she knows. It was her friend’s niece or something.”

“Not your type?”

“No way. She wore overalls.”

Jake laughed.

“Anyway,” Jake said, after a moment. “Jessica’s lake house?”

Gina launched back into the story, and Jake leaning back, nodding along and smiling to himself.

**Charles**

He was twenty nine and had just broken up with his first serious boyfriend.

Jake had had a couple of boyfriends before. There was Jason and Eric in university, there was Mateo when he was in the police academy, and even Curtis when he was in high school, not even mentioning all the awkward first dates he had been on. He had dated women as well, much more than he had dated men. He had found that the same-sex dating scene was pretty hard if you were in the closet.

But then he dated Jon.

They had met at a comedy club. Jon was an aspiring stand-up comedian, and Jake was at the club for a night out with a few friends. He had gone up to Jon after his set and they had talked and talked, for what felt like hours. He learned that Jon was working in finance until he could support himself on his performances alone, and that he’d been living in New York for two months after moving from Chicago where he had grown up, and that his favourite colour was green, and that he liked men with dark hair.

And when Jake’s friends decided it was time to leave, Jon slid a piece of paper with his phone number on it into Jake’s back pocket.

They dated for nearly two years. Jake had introduced him to his mum and Gina. (His is mum thought that Jon was just Jake’s friend and roommate, however.) Jon was perfect in just about every way. He was funny and kind and really down to earth, and his mother had liked him. He was a good kisser and he liked Die Hard (not as much as Jake, but Jake’s passion for the movie was pretty hard to match). He had honestly thought that Jon might be the one.

Jake had avoided thinking about the future. He really liked Jon. He loved Jon, but he didn’t know how he would be able to manage their relationship in the future. He had always wanted to get married, since he was a little kid, but same-sex marriage wasn’t legal in the US yet. Sure, they could always elope to Canada to get married, and Jon made it clear that he was happy to do so, but the thought of explaining to his mum why he went to Canada with his friend Jon on a boy’s trip and the returning married to him made him feel sick to the stomach.

That frustrated Jon. He was out. He had been since he was eighteen. His parents, and siblings, and family, and friends had accepted him. He didn’t understand why it was so hard for Jake. Why Jake refused to hold his hand in the street. Why Jake wouldn’t just tell his mum they were dating. Why Jake refused to go to pride marches, or local lgbt events. Jon hated it. It was the only thing they fought about. Jake loved Jon, but Jon wanted more. Jon wanted Jake to commit, to show him that he was committed, to make it official.

Jake never could. He just couldn’t. The thought of coming out properly had scared him. The only person he had come out to successfully was Gina. He hadn’t spoken to his mum about it since he had first tried to come out to her when he was seventeen, which had probably only confirmed her belief that it was a phase. As far as his mum was concerned, he was her perfect straight son.

When he was eighteen he had tried to come out to his dad, although he made the mistake of doing it when his dad was so drunk he was barely standing, which, he was for much of Jake’s childhood. Roger Peralta had promptly called him a few choice homophobic slurs, passed out and hit his head, forcing Jake to drive him to the nearest hospital, where he had woken up the next morning with no memory of what had happened or what Jake had told him the previous night.

The experiences of trying to come out to his parents had scarred him from every trying to do it again in the future.

Eventually, Jon got sick of it. Of having to be in the closet whenever he was with Jake because he was too scared to come out.

 So after several long conversations, Jon left.

Jake felt like shit. It was just his luck that the day after his boyfriend packed up his stuff into boxes, stuffed them in his car, and drove off, he was due to go on a stakeout with Charles.

He and Charles had already been working together for a few years, and they were good friends. And normally, Charles would be the person who Jake would want to do a stakeout with the most out of anyone in the precinct, but Charles was too good at reading him, and could tell when he was lying. It didn’t help that Jake was hopeless at telling lies to people he knew. Jake didn’t know how he would be able to hide how he was feeling from Charles.

Sure enough, Charles noticed something the second he saw Jake.

“Come on, bud.” Jake said, starting the car as Charles climbed in.

Charles paused and looked at him.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Come on. Let’s get going.”

“Jake…”

“Dude, seriously. There is nothing wrong.”

“Jake.”

“Fine,” He muttered, wishing Charles would drop it. “I just went through a break up. There. Happy?”

“I didn’t know you were dating anyone. What was her name?”

Jake paused for a moment and took a deep breath. And before he had a chance to think, the words came out. “His name was Jon.”

“Oh.”

It was silent. Jake avoided looking at Charles as he started reversing out of his spot in the precinct garage. He wished he hadn’t have said anything. Why didn’t he just tell Charles to drop it? They had exited the garage and were driving towards the stake out site before Charles said anything.

“So,” Charles, said slowly. “You’re gay?”

“No.” Jake said, quickly. He paused. “No. I’m bi.”

Charles nodded, mulling over Jake’s words.

“That’s… great.” Charles said. “I just want you to know that I still think of you the same way. This doesn’t change anything.”

“Thanks,” Jake said, quietly, feeling oddly emotional. He blinked a couple of times to stop tears from welling up in his eyes.

“You know,” Charles continued. “If you want, I know the perfect guy to set you up with if you want a rebound-”

“No thanks. I’m good… for now. Maybe another time.”

“Okay. Just let me know.”

Jake smiled to himself. Maybe coming out wasn’t as bad as he had thought.

-

Same sex marriage became legal in New York one year later, and for a while Jake thought about finding Jon. He almost did. Jon’s number was still saved in his phone. All it would take was one click of a button. He could do it. But he didn’t.

Two years after their break up, at dinner with his mum, Karen Peralta told Jake about how one of her friend’s daughter Jocelyn, an aspiring cosmetology student, had just come out as a lesbian. It was silent for a moment before Karen asked her son if he still felt the same way he did when he was seventeen. He told her he did. She told him she was sorry for believing him all those years ago. He thought about contacting Jon. But he didn’t.

The last time he thought about calling Jon was five years after they broke up when same sex marriage became legal throughout the entire country. But he didn’t. His attention was on something else.

Someone else.

**Rosa**

He was thirty six and his best friend had just come out to him.

Rosa was bi. That made three in the precinct; him, Rosa and Gina; only one of them out.

He used to wonder why Gina never came out, until he asked her and she explained that she never really needed to. Gina never cared about what other people felt about her. She never needed the validation of coming out. If people knew then they knew. It’s not like it was a secret for her. She had opening flirted with Rosa before, and expressed interest in women just as much as she did in men. Nobody in the precinct would be surprised if she were to date another woman.

He wished he had come out to the whole precinct sooner. He didn’t know how he could come out after Rosa. He almost felt like he was stealing her spotlight, like people would only think he was coming out because she came out, like it was some trend he was trying to join in on.

He could wait until after the wedding. When Rosa being bi became old news, and then he could come out. The thought killed him, and he knew instantly that he couldn’t do that. He had been in the closet for the last twenty years, since he was sixteen and realised that he was just as jealous of Jenny Gildenhorn for dancing with Eddie Fung, as he was of Eddie Fung dancing with Jenny Gildenhorn. He knew he had to come out. He couldn’t keep postponing it, or else he would be ninety and still be in the closet.

It was then that he decided that he wanted to be out to the whole squad before his wedding.

He dragged Gina and Charles away from the bullpen and into a storage closet, where he told them his plan, and made them promise that they wouldn't let him back out of it. They both agreed, although, he suspected for very different reasons.

"I'm going to start today." He said, nodding to himself despite the doubt he felt for every word. "I am going to come out to someone today."

The only reason he had decided to tell Charles and Gina was so that he had the extra pressure to come out to someone. He had decided he was going to do it individually. He would find a member of the squad and tell them, and then another, and then another. He couldn’t tell them all at once like Rosa had. That just felt a little too out of his comfort zone.

"You can do it, Jake!" Charles exclaimed.

"Who are you going to tell?"

"I don't know. I'll figure it out."

“Whatever. Well, good luck.” Gina shrugged. "Can I leave now?"

Jake nodded, and she turned and opened the door.

"And next time you pick a place for a secret meeting, choose one with better acoustics."

-

Jake asked Rosa to meet him at Shaw's after work. He didn't specify what for, but he doubted he would need to. It wasn't uncommon for them to go for after work drinks.

He sat at a booth, hands fiddling with the label on his beer.

He felt more nervous to come out to Rosa than he did with Gina or Charles. He didn't know why. He shouldn't feel that way. It was Rosa. They had been best friends since they went to the police academy together. He trusted her with his life, and he knew she trusted him with hers.

And, after all, she was bi too. She would know exactly how he was feeling; what he was going through. They would be able to navigate this together.

He didn't feel convinced. Maybe it was the fact that Rosa was bi that made Jake so scared. Maybe she would really think that he was just copying her. Just hopping on the trend. It's not like he'd never done it before; done something just because she was doing it.

He felt sick to his stomach, and started to regret even asking her to meet him in the first place. He reached for his phone in his pocket, already thinking of an excuse he could use to cancel.

"Hey, man."

He looked up, and there Rosa was, staring down at him, beer clutched in her hand. She sat down across from him, dropping her leather jacket on the spare space next to her.

"Hey, Rosa." He replied, allowing an easy smile to appear on his face.

“So why’d you want to meet up?”

Jake opened his mouth to speak, and then froze. He knew what he needed to say. He could see the words in his head. He knew how she would react. It would be okay. But he couldn’t speak. He just couldn’t.

Instead he just smiled. “Do I need a reason to have a drink with my best bud?”

Her eyes narrowed, and she leaned forward, examining him. He stared back, trying to look as casual as possible.

"Are you alright? You're acting weird."

Jake scoffed. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Jake," She said, her voice almost warning. "I can tell when somethings wrong with you. Just tell me."

Jake pinched his eyes shut and swallowed hard. He stayed silent for a moment, not making eye contact. Rosa huffed and leaned back.

"Fine," She said, picking up her jacket and standing up. "If you won't tell me..."

 _Don't think_ , he thought, _Just speak_.

"I'm bi."

It was silent. He kept his face down, refusing to look up, afraid of the expression he might see on Rosa's face, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw her sit back down.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

There was a pregnant pause.

"Okay. Thank you for telling me." She spoke slowly, pausing as though trying to think of what to say. "Just know, that this doesn't change anything between us, and I still think of you the same way."

Jake looked up. "You don't need to-"

"Thank God." Rosa leaned back and exhaled in relief. "I suck at that stuff. I was just trying to think of what I would have wanted to hear when I came out."

Jake laughed.

"But seriously, man," Rosa said, leaning back towards him. "Thank you for telling me.”

**Terry**

He was thirty six and so far had been keeping true to his goal.

“Sarge, can I talk to you?”

Terry turned around from where he had been wiping notes off the briefing room whiteboard and Jake could tell that Terry expected Jake to tell him that he had blown up the microwave or accidentally put his case files through the paper shredder.

“It’s nothing bad.” Jake said, quickly. “Unless you’re a trashy bigot.”

Terry raised his eyebrows.

Jake looked around, double-checking that the briefing room was empty. The morning briefing had just finished, and everyone had cleared out quickly. He had told Gina, Charles and Rosa that he was planning on telling Terry after the briefing, and they had helped to clear everyone out as fast as possible. Gina had told Hitchcock and Scully that someone was giving out free hot dogs outside, Charles had dragged Amy off to go to a crime scene and take up some door duty, and Rosa asked Holt to explain a part of the New York Law Enforcement Handbook to her, all of which resulting in the briefing room emptying quicker than Jake had ever seen it empty before.

“Okay,” Jake said, mentally preparing himself. He took a deep breath, but for some reason he felt oddly calm. “Sarge, I’m bi.”

Terry paused for a moment, then nodded. “Okay, Jake. Thank you for telling me.”

“Just don’t tell anyone, yet. Only Charles, Rosa and Gina know so far. I’m slowly making my way through everyone.”

“You haven’t told Amy yet?”

“Not yet.” Jake said. “But I’m going to. Before the wedding.”

“Whatever you say.” Terry looked out into the bullpen. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Hitchcock and Scully just came in and they do not look happy.”

Terry quickly walked out into the bullpen, and Jake smiled as he watched him attempt to negotiate with the now angry and hungry detectives.

**Hitchcock and Scully**

He was thirty six and Hitchcock and Scully wouldn’t leave him alone.

“Just tell us, Jake.” Scully said, as he cornered Jake in the hallway. “We saw you talking to Sarge, and to Charles and Gina in the storage closet. What was it about? Are you organising the precinct picnic and not inviting us?”

“What? No.” Jake said, attempting to turn around and leave, only to see Hitchcock standing behind him, a dangerous look on his face. “It’s nothing to with any precinct picnic.”

“Bullshit!” Scully shouted, standing taller and leaning over him. Jake became increasingly aware of how intimidated he was feeling. “Gina told us that someone was giving out free hot dogs outside but no one was there! It was a distraction from the real hot dogs, huh!”

Hitchcock slammed his fist into the wall, and Jake jumped.

“Tell us, Jake!”

“Fine.” Jake exclaimed, raising his hands in surrender. “I’m bi.” He stammered out.

“Oh.”

Scully’s shoulders slumped, and disappointment crossed their faces. Jake looked at them wildly, surprised by their sudden change in emotion.

“You can’t tell anyone.” Jake said quickly. “I haven’t come out to everyone yet.”

“Whatever.” Hitchcock grumbled, turning and walking off, Scully at his side. “Just don’t stare at my ass as I walk away.”

Jake sighed and then laughed to himself, happy that at least he had two less people he had to come out to now.

**Doug Judy**

He was thirty six and he decided that since he only seems to see Doug Judy once a year, he might as well tell him then and there.

It was practically a guarantee that whenever he encountered Doug Judy it would be under strange circumstances, but now sitting in a bank that his friend was currently technically robbing and holding under siege, talking to said friend about what colour le creuset pot he wanted for his wedding gift, and mentally preparing to come out to him while waiting for a distraction in the form of pizza delivery to help said friend escape and evade police to stop said friends mother from being murdered by an angry drug dealer who doesn’t watch Stranger Things, was just about as strange as an encounter with Doug Judy could possibly get.

“Hey, Judy, I know that we only really see each other once a year, but recently I’ve been doing this thing, and I’m kind of on a roll right now, so I want to tell you something.”

“Sure thing, man. Hit me up.”

“I’m bi.”

“Nice!” Judy raised his hand up for Jake to high five.

Jake reached up and slapped his hand. He couldn’t tell whether the sudden adrenaline he currently felt was from coming out or the fact that he was literally aiding and abetting a known criminal, but he appreciated it nonetheless.

“Now,” Judy said. “Let’s save my mama.”

**Holt**

He was thirty six and one week away from getting married to the love of his life.

He sat in Captain Holt’s office, foot tapping impatiently waiting for the Captain to arrive.

It was one of the very rare occasions where he had arrived early for work. He had spent the whole drive over trying to hide his nerves from Amy. Obviously, she had noticed, and he had just blamed it on the pizza they had eaten the previous night. The second they arrived at the precinct and he had bid Amy farewell at the uniformed officer’s level, Jake had rushed into Holt’s office, where he had been sitting for the last fifteen minutes.

He didn’t know why he was so nervous. If anything, Holt should be more understanding than anyone. He knew what it was like to come out. Holt had faced more adversity for being himself than anyone else of the squad. But, no matter how many times he repeated that to himself, he couldn’t shake the intense sickness he felt in his stomach.

He knew why. Holt was like father figure to him, he had accidentally called him dad enough times to know that. He knew that he was just projecting his coming out experience with his dad onto Holt. But he still couldn’t shake the intense dread in his stomach.

He had been holding this off, constantly pushing it back and ignoring every opportunity he had had. Holt and Amy were the only ones he still needed to come out to, and if he wanted to keep to his goal, there was only one week to come out to them both.

He heard the door to the office open, and turned to see Holt entering.

“Peralta.” Holt said, putting his things down and walking around to his chair on the other side of his desk. “You’re here early.”

Jake smirked and leaned back in his chair, trying to hide his nerves. “I’m here on time.”

“Yes.” Holt said, deadpan. “For you that’s early. What can I do for you?”

Jake suddenly felt frozen. He had no idea what he was doing. His tongue felt swollen in his mouth and his heart hammered painfully. He looked away.

“Peralta…” Holt said. “Are you alright?”

Jake stayed silent for another moment, trying to control his breathing. Holt sat patiently, waiting for him to begin talking.

“I have something to tell you.” Jake muttered after a moment. His eyes flickered up and met Holt’s.

Holt nodded for him to continue.

Jake took a deep breath. “I’m bi.”

Jake refused to make eye contact. He squeezed his eyes shut, and curled his hands to tight, white-knuckled fists.

“Who else knows?” Holt asked, his voice calm.

“The whole squad… except for Amy. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I was just…” Jake trailed off, and he became aware of the tears now dripping uncontrollably from his eyes and down his cheeks.

“That’s okay, Jake.” Holt said, standing up and walking around the desk. “You don’t need to apologise.” He rested a hand on Jake’s shoulder.

Jake slowly stood up and they embraced. After a moment, Jake stepped back, embarrassed that he had been caught out crying by Holt. (Again, he reminded himself, he was projecting his dad onto Holt.)

“I am the one who should be sorry.” Holt said, as Jake rubbed the tears off his face. “I am sorry that I made an environment where you feel like you cannot be yourself.”

“It’s not you.” Jake muttered, still not making eye contact. “I just… I don’t know… I see you as a dad, kind of, and my parents weren’t that understanding when I came out to them. My mum tried. Over the last couple of years I’ve been able to talk about it more with her. But…” He gave a nervous chuckle. “I don’t know.”

Holt rested his hand on Jake’s shoulder, and for the first time Jake looked up.

“Thank you,” Holt said slowly. “For telling me, Jake. I know how hard this was.”

Jake nodded, and smiled.

“Now,” Holt said, turning and sitting back down at his seat. “How are you going to tell Santiago?”

**Amy**

He was thirty six.

“I’m bi.”

“Oh.”

Just seconds before, Amy, ever the multi-tasker, had been working on both filling out a case report and going over seating for the wedding. Now, however, she was looking up at Jake, confusion etched over her face.

 _It probably wasn’t fair on her_ , Jake thought to himself, to just spring it on her like this, the night before their wedding, with no real warning. But he couldn’t think of a way to start the conversation. So he had decided to just be as blunt as possible, to just say it. Everything had been leading up to this moment. Every person he had come out to, every person he had shared that part of himself with, was in preparation for this moment, for telling Amy, and it just struck him that he probably just messed it up.

Amy shut her files and laptop and turned towards him.

She looked up at him, into his face. He stared back, feeling his heart thrum a fast beat in his chest.

“How long have you known?”

“Since I was sixteen.”

Amy’s face fell. “You’ve known for twenty years?”

Jake bit his lip, and felt like his chest was constricting.

“I’m sorry.” “I’m so sorry.” They both said at the same time.

They looked up at each other, both of their faces painted with confusion.

“Why are you sorry?” Jake asked, his face incredulous.

Amy exhaled. “I don’t know. I should have known. We’ve known each other for ten years. That whole time, I thought I knew you, but…” She paused. “I’m sorry, if you felt like you couldn’t tell me because of how I would react.”

Jake chuckled to himself and smiled. “Holt said the same thing.”

“Holt knows?”

“The whole squad knows.” Jake said. “And it wasn’t because I was scared that you wouldn’t accept me that I didn’t tell you sooner, I mean… I was scared but...” He took a deep breath, reached forward and took her hands in his. “Ames, I love you so much. More than I could ever express in words. With you, I am the happiest I’ve ever been and I was so scared of something changing between us. I didn’t know how to tell you. I didn’t want us to change. I haven’t had the best experience with coming out in the past and I didn’t want to ruin what we had.”

“Jake.” Amy bit her lip. “This could never ruin what we have. I love you. Every part of you. And this is a part of you. By being honest and open about this, you are being you. That could never ruin us.”

They both smiled at each other. Jake was vaguely aware of the fact that tears were welling in his eyes, although Amy looked on the verge of tears as well.

“We’re getting married tomorrow.” Jake whispered. He grinned. “ _Mrs Peralta_.”

“Yeah.” Amy laughed. “ _Mr Santiago_.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

**Epilogue**

He was sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, twenty nine and thirty six, and Jake had come out.

The changes were small, but Jake noticed them.

A bi pride flag appeared in his pen holder, matching the one on Rosa’s desk and the gay pride flag on Holt’s, and slowly around the entire precinct little flags appeared: a trans flag, two gay flags and an asexual flag in the uniformed officers level, a demisexual flag at reception, a pansexual flag and lesbian flag in admin, plus many, many more, all of which Jake made a point of learning and understanding.

Posters went up. Gina formally came out to the squad, although she made it very clear that if they hadn’t already figured it out she was personally insulted and they were idiots. Jake witnessed a proposal between a uniformed officer and her girlfriend.

The Ninety Ninth police precinct in Brooklyn created a reputation for itself. From all over New York, people came in to report hate crimes, knowing that they would be taken seriously here. And as much as it angered Jake to hear about all the things these people went through, it comforted him to know that as long and he and everyone else at the Ninety Ninth precinct were there, these crimes wouldn’t go unpunished.

And when a report came in one morning saying that the rates for homophobic and transphobic hate crimes had gone down in the area, even if it was just by a small amount, Jake was ecstatic. He was making a difference. He was helping people like him.

He was still coming out constantly. He realised quickly that coming out was less of a thing that happens once and is then over, and more of a constant process. But coming out became easier, and more casual, and it didn’t scare him anymore. He stopped caring if people would like him less if he came out, because if they did then they stopped mattering to him.

If someone had told sixteen year old him that in twenty years he would be surrounded by people who knew completely who he was and loved him regardless, or even more so because of it, Jake wasn’t sure that he would have believed it.

For the first time Jake felt like he can be completely and utterly himself, and he was proud of himself. He was proud that he was able to get to that point, where he could say truthfully that he wasn’t pretending anymore. He was proud of himself for the group of friends he had around him. He was so proud of the family he had made all by himself. He was proud of how far he had come.

And he wouldn’t change a thing.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> I really hope you enjoyed reading, and if you did then a kudo or comment would be really appreciated, as it really does keep me motivated to write more.
> 
> This fic was both a lot of fun and very difficult for me to write. I tried to make these characters as accurate as possible, but I did struggle thinking about how each character would react to Jake coming out. I did look a lot at their reactions to Rosa's coming out and tried to reflect this in this fic without it being the exact same. I do wish that I could have had certain character's parts longer, but for some I really struggled to write their parts. I found that a lot of times throughout this fic I was almost projecting my own experiences into this, and that actually did help me to think of what to write.
> 
> In the end, I am really happy with how this came out.
> 
> Once again, thank you for reading.


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